If all that talk of daily workouts and cleaning the house has made you worry that I’m turning into an ethereal wellness queen, have no fear. In parallel, I’m also baking like there is no tomorrow. I would be baking even more, if there was any flour to be had in the city of Brussels – I have pretty much come to the end of my supplies.

Based on what I’ve heard from friends and seen on social media, it looks like EVERYONE is baking. So I thought I’d share a recipe that was inspired by my legendary date cake (it’s not really legendary, but it’s the closest I’ve ever come to this epithet in any area of life). In the final recipe, there isn’t much left from the original, just the general structure, the use of nut flour and fruit. This version is much, much easier –  I have skipped the caramel glaze entirely, streamlined the rest and played around with quantities so that they are easy to remember. The whole idea was to make it as simple and flexible as possible.

There are also no difficult ingredients apart from my preferred almond flour, but you can substitute it with ordinary flour, hazelnut flour or coconut flour (the pictured version is in fact made using the latter). And it’s the perfect way to rescue some brown bananas, the browner the better.

You’ll need:

3 small overripe bananas or two large ones

150 grams flour

150 grams almond flour (or anything else flour-like)

A heaped teaspoon of baking powder

A pinch of salt

One egg

150 grams of brown sugar (white works as well, dark sugar just gives a more caramelised taste)

100 grams butter

Blend the bananas in a blender or smush them with a fork quite thoroughly – the batter works best if the bananas are rather liquid-y. I sometimes add a tiny bit of cream or coconut milk to the blender to help the blending along, but you could add even water, if needed. Melt the butter, add sugar and the egg and mix vigorously for a while (you could cream the butter and sugar first, but as I said – trying to keep it as easy as possible; I actually use the microwave myself). In a different bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and add them to the butter mixture, alternating with bananas and mixing as you go along. Line a round spring form cake tin with baking paper, pour the batter in and bake at 190 degrees for half an hour. Check with a wooden pick if it’s done, if not, give it another 5-10 minutes. It’s difficult to be too precise here, as the baking time depends on what kind of flour you end up using and how big your bananas are. Overall, some moistness is not a bad thing when it comes to this cake.

While it doesn’t look like much, this cake is constantly appreciated by everyone in the house and it’s one of my own faves, too. If you end up making this, let me know how it went. I have made this several times and therefore hope the recipe is solid. I am, however, not a professional cook or recipe developer, so please keep that in mind.